Last call!

Ok, I'm about to go ahead and assign some word counts for the faithful few who have given me challenges. If anyone else would like to share the love, now's your chance! I'll pick word counts on the 30th, so you only have about 3 more days. Let's do this thing! Seriously, the more odious the chore, the more likely I will be to want to avoid it, so here's my permission to get really ruthless!

Cassie's Challenge

So my friend Cassie (aka. Sassy) is moving to the great North West. Good choice, Sassy! Anyway, she is going to train for a marathon and says she's going to match my efforts. So go Sassy go! She's going to train for the same 30 weeks (with me writing and her running), so she and I will keep each other honest, hopefully. It always helps to have someone keep you motivated with a challenge by throwing themselves into the effort with you. I'm proud of you Sassy! And grateful!

Tera and Spooky are here!

So my new room mates are finally here: Tera and Spooky. Tom and I are very excited about this. Picric... not so much. At least her tone would lead me to believe she could do without another cat in the house. Ah well, life as an only-child is unhealthy and I have squirt bottles if she decides to make it physical. Poor kitties.

So that said, expect some pictures finally of the new shared pad soon! Basically, Devin wanted to surprise Tera with our new digs, so he told her that he wasn't too sure about the size of the place and I think he said something about a 3 bedroom and that the basement was damp and we were having water problems. What he was sorta lying about was that their suite is 3 bedrooms. The basement has a pool. Each of the three floors is about as big as me and Tom's last place, and that felt palatial to me. It's also much better built with considerations for actually living here. We of course had to do a little bit of alteration in order to make it fit us, but it's pretty rockin'.

So far, the only disagreements have been where to put our meager furniture now that our house is too big for what "little" we own. So... uh... yeah. Expect pics soon.

Oh! And by the way, how come I only have 2 challenges so far? I thought I new far more creative people than just Mike and Cora!

Ask Me About My Novel!

Ok, anyone ever heard of NaNoWriMo? These crazy people sit around and in 30-31 days in one month each year, they write a 50,000 word novel. Yup, it's just that simple. Here's a link to their organisation: http://www.nanowrimo.org/

They're nuts! But there's something fascinating going on here too. As many of you who know me best have heard, if money were no object, I would want to be a novelist. I remember as a girl loving to write. English, Creative Writing and Journalism were my favorite subjects in school. We even had a "subversive" newspaper in high school that we distributed all of maybe three times before something else shiny took it's place. My sister, henceforth referred to in this article as Dinger, said to me a few years ago, "You know, it's a shame you never became a writer. I always kind of expected you to."

Well it got me thinking and I've been making stabs at writing a novel ever since. I've read several books on the subject. I've wracked my brain for a story line, interesting characters or even just non-trite names to use for them, but all to no avail. I've even considered stealing my brother's story-lines! So then I came upon these yay-hoos and you know what? Their method makes sense.

Those of you who know me best also know that despite my bragging and bluster, I'm intensely self-critical. I have a hard time attempting things if I feel I won't be the absolute best at it. I realize this is a failing, but am unsure what to do about it. Enter NaNoWriMo... from far left field. The whole idea is not to write the great American novel. Really, the theory is to simply get a word-count in an itty-bitty amount of time and not worry about quality so much. This makes sense to me. All first drafts are trash anyway and I have always known that, but somehow I was feeling like my first draft should be different. Somehow inspired. After all, isn't it always the first one that's the hardest?

Well let me tell you, I have 5,000 words written and though my characters aren't as deeply developed as I might like them to be, and I still really don't have much of a plot, apparently, that's all to be expected at this point. They do, however, encourage writers to brag and outright lie about the brilliance of their writing skills, but never word count.

I'm working more than a full time job, have an ugly commute, go to college and still have to make time for my husband and some semblance of a social life. It's really weird when I can come up with a few hours to just sit down and write, but I can do it about once a week. So here's where I could use a hand from my family and friends. Now that I've come clean about my project, my debilitating fear of failure, my truly inspired level of raw, unbridled talent and my target word-count, I need you guys to keep me honest. I'll be posting word count at least once a week. If I don't, you have full permission to badger, pester and guilt me into admitting my novel's girth. My goal is to have a 50,000 word 1st draft in 30 weeks. I got a good jump on it this last weekend, but am certain I'll run out of steam soon.

Bribes are welcome. Guilt trips will not be treated with hostility on this one subject alone. In fact, if you would like to, I will accept all requests for odious chores for not hitting a particular word count on schedule. Some exceptions are: 1) Mom, moving home cannot be one of the suggestions. 2) Jenn and Cora and Rob and Toni, moving home cannot be one of the suggestions. 3) The rest of you, moving home... you get the idea. All suggestions will be considered and the most obnoxious may be screened or even deleted from the comments section (Mattie). So here's your chance. Rob, want me to owe you a pie? Cora, want me to go line-dancing with you next time I'm in the states? Jenn, how does 10 hours of Sponge-bob sound? Yep, they all sound pretty awful to me too, but that's the point. Let's get creative out there kids! I'll post the winners on this blog once I get a few submissions together.

On a more serious note, I really want to see if I can do this. I'm a little afraid of it because as long as I had something holding me back, I never had to commit to the act, so here I am. No plot. No characters. It's just the next 30 weeks and the soft unholy light coming from my laptop screen. Let the games begin!

Look what you started, Dinger dear.

The Two Bucket Theory

I think I'm finally on the night schedule. One thing I will say is that since it's quieter here, I get a lot more done. And I finally have some time to study like I thought I would have all along.

So my friend Angie just told me she's going to Huntsville. Man, am I jealous! 3 of my favorite girls in the same city and me half way across the world. It's times like this that I really regret being here instead of in the states where I could hop a quick flight or train or something and be there within hours for a hundred bucks or so.

Also, my friend Mike is leaving. For those of you who have heard the two bucket theory, skip ahead to the next paragraph. When I got to Kwaj, the manager of IT's name was Paul. I had been there about a year when Paul PCSed (a military term for moving away). As I was driving him to the airport, I asked him why he had decided it was the right time to leave and he told me about the two bucket theory. He said, "Well, when you come to Kwaj, you're issued two buckets. One is for money, the other is for BS. You leave whenever either one is full." I asked him which of his buckets had finally gotten full and he admitted that his money bucket wasn't nearly full enough.

So Mike's BS bucket AND his money bucket are just about there. I sure will miss him. On a funny side-note, he claims that he had something to do with my being hired here. The story he tells is that there were several resumes that he and a few others in the shop were going through and he was taken with my email address. Apparently, the joke behind the moniker "eronious" was not lost on him and he swears he was the one that picked me out. Anyway, Mike and I have become pretty close, especially here toward the end. He was also one of the first people to really approach Tom and make him feel welcome when we would go to social gatherings with the group from work. It's not so easy for a guy who blows stuff up for a living to fit in with a bunch of ego-inflated nerds. So, Mike, I'll miss you and will be looking forward to your next tour out here once you run out of cash in the big bad world. :)

Cheers, big ears!

All hail the mighty hunter...

The above was the subject line of an email I got from my room mate, Devin today. Apparently, my kitty has taken a liking to him. Ok, she's taken a loving to him because she is now bringing him gifts. This morning, apparently, she brought him a half-chewed up lizard tail, which she deposited adoringly in his lap. I can only assume she was terribly proud of herself and knew that mommy didn't condone the killing of lizards, but wanted to share her victory with someone she loves.

There are two very good reasons I frown on the wanton slaughter of lizards, geckos and the like. 1st, the lizards tend to keep down bugs in a house, and our villa isn't exactly well-insulated or sealed. 2nd, they always make her yack. A lot.

So here's the body of the email I got from Picric's new best friend: "...who valiantly defended our home so we might sleep safe and sound tonight. That cricket won't be making any more noise in our basement without it's back legs..."

Ew. Ain't she cute?

Have you said your good byes to the light?

"I wanted those waters to be blue but they were black. Night time waters. And how I suffered then, straining to recall the color that in my youth I had taken for granted." - Interview with the Vampire

So I moved to night shift. My goodness is it disorienting! Driving to work as it gets dark is weird. And weirder still, going to the chow hall and having spagetti for breakfast. Hm. Maybe that's why vampires go after human viscera - easier on the stomach than spagetti for breakfast!

I must admit the change is having some strange effects on my psyche. Picric and I sat up last night together until about 5 AM when I just couldn't keep my eyes open any more. She kept totally freaking me out. She'd be sitting on my belly, happily purring away with her eyes half-closed and then she'd start and look up the stairs like a two-headed dog was coming down them. Sheesh! I'm going to have to lock her in the room at night with my pet boy.

So this is my first night on this shift. I'm almost half-way done and so far, it's ok, other than a sort of morose, spaced-out feeling. I feel like someone extracted a portion of my brain and inserted some green jell-o with marshmallows into the vacant space. I feel like if I shake my head, I will actually be able to watch it wriggle, see it jiggle. I am however feeling a bit cool and fruity though, so I have that going for me.

I should probably stop now. Dessert-based exestential mental meanderings are probably not the best subjects for a public blog.

> :[ (I am Nosferatu!)